I haven’t posted in a few days. I’ve been pretty busy. I’ll start with my first complaint.

$&)(;@“;:^%#, I made a beautiful, perfectly seasoned thermos of coffee this morning at about 5:00 am, and as Vickie was driving us down SR 434, I blurted out, “I know what I forgot, my coffee. Damnit!” “Do you want me to turn around?” We were probably only a mile from home, but I said, “No, I don’t want to make you late. I’ll just have to buy some at work.”

I have nine bucks in the bank. I was already going to not have enough to cover after shift snacks for when my shifts end at 1:00 pm today and tomorrow, and I have to wait around to get picked up at 4:00 pm. So, she’d handed me a ten spot as a loan. This woman is such a beautiful soul! I’m so lucky she’s in my life.

At 7:00 I’m going to grind and buy a small amount of coffee beans and make some in the breakroom coffee maker. I’ll have to get a half and half too.

The humorous thing about this is I’d already had most of a mug of cold Nitro Stumptown coffee I’d had in the fridge for a couple of weeks. I barely slept last night, so today was a good day to start with extra caffeine.

I’d never had this nitro concoction. I’m not even sure what it is. This is a new invention in my post-barista life. It’s foamy, like it’s kind of carbonated. I will be googling it later. I added sugar and half and half. It was tasty.

The thing is, I usually drink coffee that is 90% decaf. I had to switch in the 90’s when I worked at Coffee People in Portland because on my days OFF I was drinking 12-14 cups per day. It doesn’t mix well with a lot of things in life, such as, needing to get up for work at 4:00 am.

The Stumptown Nitro is completely caffeinated. Wow, apparently, it wasn’t enough to wake my brain up, BECAUSE I LEFT MY FRIGGING COFFEE ON THE )(;&@^% KITCHEN COUNTER!!

Ten more minutes and the head cashier will clock in and I can go buy some ground beans, half and half, and a breakfast sandwich.

I can tell now, that I am more alert than I usually am when I have to be here two hours before my shift starts. So, I guess my body has absorbed some caffeine. Poopy. I like my home brew. I know how to make a good cuppa joe.

Here’s my second complaint. My shift starts a half hour later because word on high is: cut back hours. Even head cashiers had their schedules shaved.

This does not bode well for the conversation I want to have with my boss when I see her next. Yesterday I had my taxes done at H & R Block. Some may consider them to be the McDonald’s of tax preparers, but I’ve had the same guy do my taxes for, technically, three years, cause last year he helped me finish 2019 and did 2020, and he saved my ass. I’m going to get a big enough return that I might have enough for the down payment on a car! And, I’m definitely going to get new glasses. I’ve needed them for about two years. Yeah, in the US, eye care and dental care are not part of health care. It’s so stupid.

It’s 7:26. I just got my ground coffee. It’s brewing right now. I ended up spending seven bucks of that ten, and I got an employee discount, and I got stuff on sale. Sheesh. Food has gotten way more expensive over the last year.

It is a huge relief to have my taxes done and filed. I didn’t get the hard copies when I left the tax office yesterday because he was trying to get permission from his boss to give me a bit of a discount. He didn’t have the right code. So, he held them and last evening he texted me and said the discount was approved and applied, taxes were sent and I can pick up my copies at the front desk any time. The office is on the way home. Vickie said she didn’t mind stopping so I could get them.

We’re also going to stop in at the new Planet Fitness that’s near our home. We are going to take a tour. It’s so close, I can walk there. So, I’m going to transfer my membership from the Casselberry gym to this new one in Winter Springs. Right now, I’m not using the gym, because I have no car. And, of course, there is no bus service.

On another note, I’m making headway on setting up a writing spot in my room. It will be nice to hang out up there and dig out old writing projects, such as my novel, and kids’ book, in a private setting. Plus, it’s a brighter area—more light.

I started on this project by changing my filing storage and condensing stuff. I have too many file envelopes of say, rent receipts. Since my life’s descent into the drain that began in 2007, I’ve had to move at least 15 times—much of my stuff being moved in a VW Beetle. Most of those moves were due to just renting a room and a few babies were due, or the parents decided to use the room I had to make play places for their little ones, or the homes were going up for sale, or the principal renters were moving on themselves. My life has been constantly in flux since 2007. I never had the time to go through the mounds of, “possibly important papers,” I’d collected. Common wisdom used to be that you held onto tax info and bank info for at least seven years. I’m not sure whose butt that number came out of, but I’m done with that. It’s the computer age. Copies can be stored on a hard drive. It weighs less, both physically and psychologically.

It’s going on 8:30 and I’ve consumed the coffee I brewed here and eaten my burrito, which was really tasty. Normally, I’d be clocking in, but my start up time is 9:00 today and tomorrow. It means that I’m waiting around here for a total of six hours to work a four hour shift. It sucks. This is why I need a car; it’s why I want a car.

This crazy schedule contributes to my sleep shortage. Last night, because I had good tax news, I thought I’d be relaxed and fall asleep very easily. Nope. My brain ruminated even more. I usually take under ten minutes to conk out. No, I kept thinking about how to properly handle my refund and where I should start looking for a car. I think I’m going to do what I did when the money fell into my lap in 2004. I had no idea where the money was going to come from, but I knew I wanted a new VW Beetle to replace the one I lost in the divorce. So, I just drove my ugly red Dodge to a few VW dealerships and acted like I had the money to buy a new car. Three months later, bam, I won the money to buy one, and pay for the whole thing. It turned out to be the best, most dependable vehicle I’ve ever owned. Damn, I miss that car.

Over the three months before I got the money, I visualized the car I wanted and I did, indeed, get that exact car: brand new, 5- speed manual TDI transmission, sunroof, lagoon blue, cloth seat covers, and great sound system. My dealership found one in Coconut Creek, which is near Miami, it had 25 miles on it. They put that puppy on a flat bed truck and hauled it to Daytona Beach for me. Ahh, the memories,

This time around, I may not be so lucky, but I’m going to keep visualizing what I want and try to stay happy. Like truly does attract like.